Goodbye Ben

BBC NEWS | England | Oxfordshire | British boy killed skiing in US

Ben Trichler was at Uffington School, the one my son goes to, till the summer, and then moved on to King Alfred's in Wantage (I think), in the same year as my step-daughter. His mum is also the teaching assistant in Dan's class. Ben was very bright, clever, very sporty - a striking-looking boy who everyone knew.

This is really sad. I don't know him or his mum more than being at Dan's school but feel so upset now. 11 years old ... what a bloody waste :(

Goodbye Ben - we'll never forget you.

NYE vandals strike close to home

I drove through our local town, Wantage, at about teatime on New Year's Eve, and later Ulen asked me I whether I'd noticed if the statue of King Alfred had been boarded up - apparently in previous years it's been a target for drunken vandals and was normally boarded up, but it ended up more dangerous as the idiots just threw bits of broken noarding all over the square so for the last few years there had been police keeping watch instead.

Presumably it wasn't boarded again this year, otherwise this wouldn't have happened: BBC NEWS | England | Oxfordshire | King Alfred's arm left in pieces.

Disgraceful, and very sad to read. Yet strangely, I was in Wantage this morning and didn't notice the damage. I guess when you see something every day you don't really take it in.

Happy New Year ..... let's hope it gets better than this.

Books I read in 2007

I set myself a challenge at the beginning of 2007 to read a book a week ... didn't manage to do it but I got to 45, which isn't bad considering I've spent a big chunk of this year setting up my own business and dealing with Dan's increasingly difficult behaviour. maybe I'll manage it this year - though I think the challenge for this year is a book by an author for every letter of the alphabet, not necessarily in order ... just to get me reading a wide variety.

Anyway, here's my top ten books that I read in 2007 (in no particular order):

The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Book Thief - Marcus Zusak
The Crimson Petal and the White - Michael Faber
Daniel Isn't Talking - Marti Leimbach
Emotional Geology - Linda Gillard
George and Sam - Charlotte Moore
The Boy in Striped Pajamas - John Boyne
A Lifetime Burning - Linda Gillard
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - JK Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling